by: Maureen Marie Belmonte

Kapamilya soap opera queen Judy Ann Santos has once again rallied to the side of her “Ate,”Megastar Sharon Cuneta who recently drew flak anew after defending her husband, former senator Kiko Pangilinan, from being dragged into the controversial P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam through a series of tweets that she has since deleted.

During his privilege speech on Wednesday, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, one of the legislators currently facing plunder charges due to his purported involvement in the massive scam, lamented how the Commission on Audit has been seemingly biased in highlighting irregularities in the fund disbursement of government officials, among them allegedly were those of the Megastar’s husband.

While the speech was ongoing, the actress took to her Twitter account her surprise and at the same time fury as she defended her husband from the nasty accusation.

“If anyone reading this can prove to me that my husband has stolen any amount from his PDAF in his 12 years as senator, I will give you P10 million in cash and I will leave my husband.

“That is how confident I am. Sorry, HINDI KAMI MAGNANAKAW,” posted the Megastar on Wednesday.

As one of the closest friends of the seasoned actress, Juday, during the press conference of her upcoming game show Bet On Your Baby on Thursday, has underscored that if she were put in the same situation as her Ate Sharon, she would probably be feeling the exact same thing.

Juday added that we live in a democratic country where virtually everyone has a right to air their grievances about certain matters, it’s just that, “Nama-magnify lang kasi artista pero I guess halimbawa ordinaryong tao ang gagawa nu’n hindi papansinin, baka suportahan pa.”

PDAF scam

Juday, who was just cleared from her P3.4-million tax evasion case early this year, also expressed dismay over the existence of a pork barrel scam, wherein the funds that are supposedly for public consumption were allegedly pocketed by conniving legislators, agencies, and private individuals.

Many celebs have weighed in on this issue which has been linked to the showbiz industry due to the simple fact that two of the three senators charged with plunder last Monday are celebrities, namely: Sen. Jinggoy and Sen. Bong Revilla Jr.

Asked what her reaction was that celebrities are involved in this controversy, Juday, pleaded with the public, as well as the presiding officials of the investigations, to just “disregard” the fact that they are celebrities but rather to just rechannel their energies and efforts in resolving the case as quick as possible. “‘Wag ng tagalan yung proseso, bilisan na natin yung pag po-proseso ano kasi ang dami ng dumarating na bagyo at kung ano-anong calamities. Ang sa akin lang, let’s get to the bottom of this. Let’s finish this already and hanapan na ng solusyon. Stop pinpointing and solusyunan na kasi the more na pinapatagal the more na tayong ninanakawan,” she ended.